Night swirled down on Sunnydale, blanketing it in a tumultuous roll of black clouds. The sky was a deep gunmetal grey at around four o'clock. Buffy stood at the living room window, gazing out on the street as rain began to splinter down on the earth. Willow was sitting curled up in an armchair staring down at her hands as if searching for something in them. Faith paced through the room, back and forth, back and forth, anger flaring in her coffee eyes.
The creak of the door in the entry way split the silence and Xander entered, with damp tossled hair and raindrops speckling his coat.
Buffy released a breath carefully and closed her eyes a little. Though she would not deny that she had been slightly worried about Xander's day long absence, she also knew that she would need to dive in to the situation at hand and try to lend herself to her childhood friend's needs. After all, they were in similar situations, having lost the ones that they loved in the same battle, having encountered the same emotional wounds that left angry scars on them. But as she opened her own eyes once again, she could tell that he was dismayed at the sight of them all waiting in the den on the edges of their seats. He didn't say as much.
"Hey." he greeted softly, catching Faith's wrathful stare out of the corner of his eyes, but choosing to ignore it. "Did I miss something?"
A bad question to ask, Buffy thought, knowing that Faith would jump in with a hard edged truth of their fear for his safety.
However, the brunette slayer resisted her urge and stalked past him in a huff, snatching her leather coat from the stand and leaving the house, the door banging behind her.
Xander's sight had dropped to the floor to refuse making eye contact with her. Once she was gone, he lifted his head to Buffy and Willow and stated simply, "Argument?"
Buffy pursed her lips momentarily. Courage, however, failed her. "I don't know what's wrong with Faith." she stated. Willow caught her gaze for a second and also shook her head.
Xander, however, could see straight through the comment. He took the statement on the chin and gave a delicate smile. "Great how everything is back to normal again." he remarked off hand, setting his bag down on the floor and dropping onto the couch next to Buffy with a heavy sigh.
She took the opportunity to rest her head on his shoulder and was received with his head resting against hers softly. Reaching over, she tentatively let her small hand rest on his. "Where were you?" she questioned innocently, leaving nothing behind the voice but plain curiosity.
He cleared his throat awkwardly and straightened his posture on the couch a little. "I was at the library." he said plainly.
'Faith would have seen him there…' Buffy thought to herself even though she already knew that he was lying. Although she regretted it, she could feel her lips moving onward. "You must have seen Faith then." she concluded.
There was a hitch in Xander's breathing and he again shifted his weight in the sofa. "Must have been in a different section." he stated offhandedly.
Buffy stared at the floorboards without turning to look at him. "Yeah. Must have." she agreed.
Dinner passed like it did every night. Silently. Xander sat alienated on the left hand side of the table, the chair where Faith usually was sat vacant, and Willow and Buffy sat along the right side of the table, staring at their plates and chewing their food quietly. Every once and a while, Buffy lifted her eyes to the window, searching for Faith. But the walk was desolate, lit only by the dull yellow of the porch light.
Willow bit into a roll and glanced up at Xander who just stared at his food as if it wasn't there at all. "Xand?" she whispered.
His eye focused and passed over Willow's worried look. "Sorry. I was… thinking." he explained, lifting his hamburger off the plate and taking a large bite out of it.
Buffy now was watching as he wolfed down the food in front of him. One would think he had been starving himself had they not actually known Xander. He cleaned the plate within five minutes. Looking up again, he saw that Willow and Buffy were watching him intently.
"Uh…" he began, not sure what to say.
In that moment, a stifled laugh erupted from Buffy and she doubled over, grinning widely.
Willow joined in momentarily with a giggle which later turned into a bright warm smile.
Xander scoffed, but couldn't hold back his own mirth in the situation. Pretty soon, they were all exploding in laughs, eyes closed and mouths wide, golden amusement thawing the ice cold atmosphere that had once been there.
